The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Inspired by the real life Ivan, the western lowland gorilla who was captured as a baby and lived in Washington state, first with humans and then in a circus themed shopping center. After twenty-seven years without contact with another gorilla, he was moved to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle before spending the remainder of his life at Zoo Atlanta. Our book Ivan is close friends to the performing elephant, Stella, and a stray dog who breaks into Ivan's domain to cuddle at night, Bob. When a baby elephant named Ruby is brought in to share Stella's domain and perform at the show, Bob is forced to face the realities of his past... and his present. He wants a better live for Ruby and he is willing to work hard to get it.

This book was part of a March reading month initiative for my daughter's school. We read a small amount every day with critical questions for the passage, designed for elementary age students. My own daughter is six, and I was a little surprised at some of the topics introduced in the books. Nothing is ever stated explicitly, but you deal with animal cruelty both due to negligence and otherwise, as well as the death of an animal. My own initial surprise aside, my daughter handled all of this well. The characters in the book were easy to follow and unexpectedly well developed for a children's story. And the story moved quickly with a lovely, heartwarming ending that made me and my daughter very happy. It was engaging for not only my six year old daughter and myself, but also my mother-in-law, who heard some of the story and wanted me to catch her up on what she'd missed. We did watch the adaptation made by Disney, which my daughter enjoyed more because the Mack character was better intentioned, while I liked it less for the same reason.

I'm giving The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate 4.75 stars out of 5. I really enjoyed it. My daughter really enjoyed it. It seemed like a lot of the school enjoyed it. A great children's book for kids just being introduced to critical reading skills with a story that manages to touch the hearts of adults as well. There are subsequent books focusing on both Ruby and Bob, but I don't think we will be reading them. Based on the synopsis, I think their addition might detract from Ivan's story.

For more from the author, check out https://katherineapplegate.com/